The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Albanian Government have signed today in Tirana a loan aimed at the rehabilitation of secondary and local roads network. With a total amount of EUR 50 million this is the largest financing operation ever signed by EIB in Albania.

The EIB was represented by Dario Scannapieco, Vice-President responsible for operations in Italy, Malta and the Western Balkans; the Albanian Government by the Minister of Finance, Ridvan Bode.

The project is part of an ongoing programme of rehabilitation of 1,500 km of secondary and local roads all over the Country which includes design, construction and supervision in Albania. The main goals are:

• improvement of the transport conditions in the rural areas;
• facility in access to marketplaces and administrative, educational and health services;
• increasing the opportunities of economic, agricultural and tourist development for the beneficiary population via the provision of asphalted roads.

The total cost of this project is around EUR 140 million, co-financed with the European Commission and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the projects falls under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), which will provide grant financing to support technical assistance and investments. The rehabilitation secondary roads programme is managed by the Albanian Development Fund.

The EIB is active in Albania since 1995 and to date the total financing activity is around EUR 350 million.

“We are really satisfied to contribute to this programme and in general to improve our activity with Tirana Authorities”, noted the Vicepresident Scannapieco, “this a crucial way to help Albania, together with all the other institutions involved, in his progress towards European integration”.

Notes to editors:

The EIB is the bank of the European Union. Established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome, it operates in the 27 EU Member States and is active in more than 130 other countries. Outside the EU, the Bank supports projects that contribute to economic development in countries that have signed association or cooperation agreements with the EU.

The EIB has been active in the Western Balkans since 1977 and is today the largest international financier in the region. Over the past ten years, it has financed projects totalling over EUR 6 billion in the area. The Bank's focus in the Western Balkans has been on the implementation of transport, energy, health and education projects, support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local authorities, industry and services, water and sanitation.